Transfer-carriage for elevated ways



6 Sheets-Sheet 1.-

(No Model.) I

0. H. NOTTER.

TRANSFER CARRIAGE FOR ELEVATED WAYS.

Patented Mar. 1, 1898.

3 ma; W va w u: NORRlS pmas 00.. WOTO-UTHQ, WASHINGYON, n. c

(No Model.) I e Sheets-Sheet 2.

O.H.NOTTER. TRANSFER CARRIAGE FOR ELEVATED WAYS.

IIIIIIIIII/ Patented Mar. 1,

mmwmi Mg \m 9% THE scams FEYERS co. PHOTO-LIYNOY, WASHINGTON. n. c.

(No Model.) 0' H NOTTER. 6 SheetsSheet 3. TRANSFER CARRIAGE FOR ELEVATEDWAYS. No. 599,973. Patented Mar. 1, 1898.

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 4.

G. H, NOTTER. TRANSFER CARRIAGE FOR ELEVATED WAYS. N0. 599,973. PatentedMar. 1, 1898.

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 5.

G. H. NOTTER.

TRANSFER CARRIAGE FOR ELEVATED WAYS. No. 599,973. Patented Mar. 1, 1898.

6 Sheets-Sheet 6.

(No Model.)

C. H.NIOTTER. TRANSFER CARRIAGE FOR ELEVATED WAYS.

No. 599,973. Patented Mar. 1, 1898.

A =====E i K A A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. NOTTER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TRANSFER-CARRIAGE FOR ELEVATED WAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 599,973, dated March 1,1898.

I Application filed November 5,1895. $eria1N0. 567,990. (No model.) 1

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. NOTTEE, of Chicago, Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Transfer- Carriages forElevated Ways, of which the following is a specification- This inventionrelates to a transfer-carriage such as is used for transferring coal,ore, -&c., in buckets or tubs upon elevated ways from one point toanother in a dock or yard.

In this class of devices the elevated track or way may be eitherinclined or horizontal between distant points-as, for example, from apile of coal or ore in a dock or yard to a hopper, vessel, or car.Usually these transfer-carriages are so arranged that they run in onedirection by gravity, and the track is provided with a movable chuck orstop-block, to which the carriage becomes automatically locked when suchchuck or stop-block is encountered, and thereby the carriage is heldstationary while the bucket is being filled or emptied, as the case maybe. Gables are usually employed running over sheaves journaled upon thecarriage, and these cables are connected with the bucket or tub, so thatthe latter may be lowered and raised, and the carriage then moved alongthe track by the pull on the cable, which latter is operated by the drumof a hoisting-engine.

My invention is particularly adapted to that class of transfer-carriageswhich are intended to be used with clam-shell buckets and in which twocables are employed, one for closing the clam-shell sections and theother for holding them closed, while both cables are employed forhoisting the load and drawing the carriers along the track.

My invention consists in' certain features in the construction of thechuck-blocks, in a novel construction and arrangement of thecable-sheaves and the manner of running the cables thereove'r, in meansfor locking the cable-sheaves and thereby the bucket in the elevatedposition, and in improvements in the construction of the trippingdevice, whereby the carriage is connected to and released from thechuck-block.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a section of the track,the chuck-block, and the carriage mounted thereon, some of ripheralgroove 15, Fig. 8.

the parts being broken away. Fig. 2 is a planview of the carriage,chuck-block, and a track-section, the cables shown broken away. Fig. 3is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the position of the parts when thebucket is raised. Fig. 4. is an end elevation of the carriage, showingthe track-rails in section, the cables omitted. Fig. 5 is a broken planView of the carriage-frame with the sheaves removed and thesheave-shafts broken away. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional elevationof the chuck-block. tional elevation of the chuck-block and track withparts omitted.- Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional elevation through thetrack-rails and one pair of the carriage-wheels, their axle showing inelevation; and Fig. 9 is a similar view through a pair of cable-sheaves.

In the drawings, 10 represents the side frames of the carriage, whichmay be made of steel plates connected together by transversethrough-bolts, the heads of which show at 11 in Fig. 1. These sideframes also furnish bearings for the wheel-axles 12, on which aremounted the truck-wheels 13. The latter have the usual flanges 14; butin order to prevent the formation of a bur and the exfoliation of thetrack-rails the tread of the Wheel is provided adjacent to the flangewith a pc- If a bur forms upon the upper surface of the track-rail atthe edge of the bearing-face adjacent to the groove, such groove willprovide space therefor and prevent the Wedging of the bur against theflange and the consequent interference with the free movement of thecarriage as in the common'construction. This special construction ofwheel I have found important, and it forms one feature of the inventionhereinafter claimed.

The track-rails'shown are of the channelbar type, being marked 16, andthey may be supported in any usual or convenient manner. Thecarriage-frame also has a stationary axle 17, on which are mounted twoindependently-revoluble intermediate sheaves, as shown in Fig. 9. At theupper angle of the frame a single sheave 18 is mounted upon the axle ofone pair of the truck-wheels, and at,

Fig. 7 is a transverse secthe opposite end of the carriage the axle ofthe other pair of truck-wheels carries a threegrooved sheave 19, andsaid sheave has integrally formed or rigidly secured therewith theratchet-wheel 20. The intermediate sheaves (shown in Fig. 9) are marked21 22, the former having two grooves and the latter a single groove. Thesheave 22 may have a chambered hub sleeved over the hub of the sheave 21in order to give it a broader bearing.

Two cables are employed, one of which (marked 24) is the closing-cableand which leads from the hoisting apparatus over the sheave 18 andthence downwardly to the clamshell bucket, the upper portion of theframe of such bucket being indicated in Fig. 3. It will be understoodthat this cable is to be so connected with the bucket mechanism that bya pull thereon the sections of the clamshell are closed in order to fillthe bucket. The other cable (marked 25) leads from the hoistingmechanism over the carriage parallel to the cable 24 and is firstcarried around over the sheave 19 in one of the outer grooves thereof,thence half around the sheave 21 from the lower side, thence around themiddle groove of the sheave 19, thence back under the sheave 21 in theother groove thereof, thence across to the third groove of the sheave19, thence back and over the sheave 22, and down to its connection withthe hoistingbucket. The grooves in the sheave 19 are preferablyV-shaped, while the grooves in the sheaves 21 and 22 are broader ontheir hottoms, it being the intention that the cables shall be wedgedinto the V-shaped grooves under strain, while it runs freely or restsloosely in the bottom of the broader grooves of the sheaves 21 and 22.

In order to lock the carriage to the track, I make use of what isdesignated a chuckblock. The chuck-block is shown in Figs. 6 and 7 andmay be composed of the flanged side plates 26 27, the lower flangewhereof rests on the top of the track-rails and the upper flanges beingconnected by the two arched cross-pieces 28. On the side plates aresecured stirrups 29, whose outer faces are in the plane of the outersides of the trackrails, said faces having key-openings 30, as shown inFig. 6.

In order to secure the chuck-block to the track-rails the latter havestandards 31 secured thereto at suitable intervals and provided withkey-openings 32, registering with the key-openin gs 30, and throughwhich openings keys 33 may be inserted to secure the chuck-block fixedlyto the track. The forward ends of the side frames 26 are cut out toreceive the peripheries of the front pair of carriage wheels. Thechuck-block is provided also with a pair of hooked locking-levers 34,which are pivotally mounted upon a stud 35, the forward ends of theselevers being sustained in their lowest position by the stirrup 36.Between their pivots and the stirrup said locking-levers have a roller37 connecting them and furnishing an ant'ifriction-surface, againstwhich a tilting-lever impinges to release and raise said levers. The

forward hooked ends of said levers are adapted to engage over across-bar or roller 38, which is mounted in the frame members 10 of thecarriage. Upon the carriage is pivoted a tripping-lever 39, its pivotbeing marked 40. One end of said lever is bifurcated to embrace thecables 24 25 and is in the path of the bucket-frame, so as to be engagedand rocked thereby when the bucket is raised, as shown in Fig. 3. Theforward end of said lever 39 has a pin 41 working in a slot 42 in alever 43, which is pivoted to the side frame 10, as at 44, and has anend thereof adapted to engage beneath the roller 37 on the hookedlocking-arms 34. From the arrangement of the pivots it is obvious thatwhen the lever 39 is rocked by the engagement of the bucketframe thelever 43 will also be rocked into engagement with the roller 37 and liftthe locking-lever 34, disengaging them from the roller 38 on thecarriage. This will operate to release the carriage from thechuck-block, it being presupposed that as the carriage runs down andagainst the chuck-block the hooked locking-levers 34 will haveencountered the roller 38, have been tilted on their pivots, and,dropping down so as to embrace said roller, will have locked thecarriage to the block. \Vhen the load is raised to its highest positionand has released the carriage from the chuck-block, then the means forlocking the sheaves against further rotation becomes operative. Saidmeans comprise a pivoted pawl and its actuating mechanism. Said pawl ispivoted between its ends, as at 45. One of its ends 46 is adapted toengage with the ratchet-teeth of the ratchet 20,- while its opposite endor arm is pivotally connected with a rod 47, passing freely through apivoted lug 48, said rod havinga spring 49 coiled around it and hearingat one end upon the lug and upon the other end upon the head of saidrod, so as to throw the pawl into action. The means for withdrawing thepawl consists of the elbow-lever 50, pivoted on the frame of thecarriage and having one of its arms terminating in a shoe 51, whichrides over the roller 35, upon which the locking-levers 34 are mounted.The other end of said bellcrank is connected by a link 52 with the pawl46, and therefore when the carriage runs down and is arrested by thechuck-block the shoe 51, riding upon said roller, holds the pawl out ofcontact with the ratchet against the action of the spring and permitsthe rotation of the sheave under the action of the hoisting apparatus.

In this carriage it will be observed that no means are provided forpositively locking the bucket-frame to the carriage. The pawl preventsthe rotation of the sheave to which it is secured, but the load is heldin the elevated position by the friction of the cable in the grooves ofthe sheaves. The friction holding power must bear some definite relationtherefore to the maximum load which is to be carried. For the uses towhich my invention is designed the load could not be held in theelevated position by the employment of a single pulley nor by the use oftwo pulleys journaled parallel to each other. The mounting of twosheaves upon the same axle is of course to enable the direction of thecable to be reversed and the provision of one of the sheaves withV-shapedgrooves further increases the frictional holding power. By theemployment of the intermediate sheaves also the depending strand of theholding and hoisting cable may be brought close to the depending strandof the closing-cable and therefore in proper position for attachment tothe load.

I claim 1. In a transfer-carriage,a rotatable sheave mounted thereon, acable turned about said sheave, a ratchet-wheel secured to and rotatingwith the sheave, a spring-actuated pawl normally held in engagement withthe ratchet, a bell-crank pivoted upon the carriage, a link connectingone member of said bell-crank with the pawl and the opposite arm of saidwith a pair of sheaves mounted to rotate about the same axis but inopposite directions, of a sheave mounted to rotate upon an axis parallelto that of the pair and having a plurality of cable-grooves, and a cableturned in said grooves of the single sheave-and strands thereof passingaround the pair of pulleys but in opposite directions and depending forattachment to the load, substantially as described.

4. In a transfer-carriage, the combination with a sheave having aplurality of V-shaped grooves, of a pair of sheaves having broadergrooves therein and mounted. upon a common axis, a cable turned'over theplural-grooved sheave, thence over one of the members of the pair,thence back to the single sheave, thence again around the sheave of thepair, thence around the third groove of the single sheave and thenceover the second sheave of the pair and depending for attachment to theload, substantially as described.

5. In atransfer-carriage, the combination with a wheeled frame, ofsheaves mounted toward opposite ends thereof, and one of said sheaveshaving a plurality of grooves, a pair of sheaves having a common axismounted intermediate said first-named sheaves, a closing-cable passedover the single sheave and a holding and hoisting cable turned over theplural-grooved sheave and over said intermediate sheaves and dependingin proximity to the closing cable, substantially as described.

OI-IARLES H. NOTTER.

NVitnesses:

FREDERICK O. GooDwIN, E. L. HUBER.

